Zur Schau gestellte Fiktion: Die Erfindung polnischer Frühgeschichte in Słowackis Tragödien „Balladyna“ und „Lilla Weneda“

Abstract

Juliusz Słowacki’s tragedies “Balladyna” (1834, publ. 1839) and “Lilla Weneda” (1840) are set in legendary pre-historical times. Reflecting the Polish nation-building process, they outline invented episodes und characters in the beginnings of the first Polish state. With these plays, Słowacki wanted to give his people poetically created legends, which would enrich their scanty stock of stories from pre-historical times and fill out the gaps in their national historical knowledge. Słowacki’s foreword to “Balladyna” serves as an introduction to a projected cycle of plays about Polish pre-history. Here, the playwright openly exposes the fictionality of both characters and plot, and he draws attention to the many historical inconsistencies and anachronisms in the text. At the same time, he claims that the intrinsic truth of poetry ranks higher than mere factual accuracy, and that his plays, despite their historical inaccuracy, may become Polish-pre-history. His invention of new episodes of Polish pre-history is aimed polemically against contemporary historiography – especially against two issues, i. e. first, romantic historiography’s pretension to play the role of universal art (Universalwissenschaft), and secondly, the traditional Polish idealization of known figures of pre-history. The article discusses these two aspects of Słowacki’s plays, focussing on his polemics against contemporary Polish historiography and especially against Joachim Lelewel.